DOPAMINE HYPERSENSITIVITY IN MIGRAINE - ROLE OF THE APOMORPHINE TEST

We investigated the effects of apomorphine administration at two diffe rent doses (2-10 mu g/kg, s.c.) in 35 migraineurs in headache-flee per iod and in 20 age-matched healthy control subjects, with and without p retreatment with domperidone. Neither patients or controls complained of headache at either dose, whereas at the dose of 10 mu g/kg migraine urs showed a statistically significant higher incidence of dopaminergi c symptoms (nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, yawning, dizziness, sweating ) than controls. Furthermore, symptoms due to postsynaptic dopamine re ceptors activation (i.e., nausea and vomiting) only appeared in migrai neurs. No symptom, however, resembled those characterizing a spontaneo us migraine attack. In conclusion, migraineurs show a lower threshold for dopamine receptor activation than normal subjects.